‘Baby Angel’ holds dear memoriesAutumn has always been a transitional season for me. As a child, I saw it as the time when the carefree days of summer changed to conform with the structure and requirements of school. The same held true through college and graduate school. During the years that I was working in corporate finance, fall was the time to finalize plans and budgets for the coming year. As a mother, I see fall, once again, as a time to transition back to school and...

Real winners are problem solversIn today’s culture there is a tremendous emphasis placed on winning, regardless of whether it’s in the boardroom, on the football field or betting at the racetrack. It has been my observation this emphasis in recent years has been getting stronger primarily because of one word — money. A good example is the evolving nature of high school sports. Regardless of the sport, players are getting bigger, stronger and faster — and even meaner in some ...

Expect anything; be prepared for everythingI shot a cop last month. Actually, I shot two. It’s OK, though. Seriously. It was part of the 2013 Citizen’s Police Academy, hosted by the Russellville Police Department. For the past several weeks, I’ve attended the academy and learned a little bit more about what, why and how our local officers do what they do. During the final class, we learned about high-risk situations. Officers gave us a crash-course in searching a building when you have...

More needed on parole’s front lineMaybe state employees should be paid based on how much they’ll be missed when they miss a single day of work. In other words, an agency can go a long time without an official director, but it matters a lot when a foster care caseworker is absent even for a day. If that’s so, the caseworker ought to be the one making the big bucks, not the agency director. I’m not taking credit for this concept. Doyle Webb, now the head of the Republican Party ...

Letters to the editor (Nov. 13, 2013)No more cuts We are the greatest nation in the world, and I’m pleased the government shutdown is over. However, with budget talks underway, we cannot afford any cuts to important programs like Medicare Advantage. As a 90-year-old woman who’s in good health, I have no complaints about my Medicare Advantage plan and hope it will continue to provide excellent coverage. When I fell last February and broke my arm, my insurance really came through f...

Geography a factor in 2nd District raceRepublican Tim Griffin’s announcement last month that he will not seek a third term as 2nd District congressman created a bit of a scramble in central Arkansas as both parties prepare to campaign for the soon-to-be open seat. Geography of the district is an important factor. A former columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau once described the district as “Little Rock surrounded by Oklahoma.” The description fits. While Little Rock has remained a...

Parole system gets new scrutinyLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The case of a parolee who managed to avoid being locked up before he allegedly killed a man in Little Rock this year is putting new pressure on a parole system that has bedeviled Democratic and Republican governors alike in Arkansas. It’s a problem that won’t be easy — or cheap — to solve. The Arkansas State Police investigation released last week regarding the case of Darrell Dennis, an eight-time parole absconder arrested ...

Letter to the editor (Nov. 10, 2013)On Wednesday, Nov. 6 2013, The Courier was kind enough to publish my letter opposing the upcoming tax increase co-sponsored by Justices of the Peace, Ben Cross and Doug Skelton. Following the 7-6 vote Thursday night, I dispatched the following emails. First was to the seven Justices of the Peace voting against the increase of our taxes, and the second to the six Justices of the Peace who voted in favor of the millage increase. I have enclosed ...

Agent recalls Kennedy assassination Most of us who lived through 1963 can tell you exactly where we were and what we were doing on Nov. 22 when we heard that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. That memory ranks as a signal moment in any lifetime. Clint Hill’s memory is more vivid than that of almost anyone alive, and it has troubled him deeply. As a Secret Service agent assigned to protect first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Hill was only a few yards away from the pre...

A life that made a big differenceWe never fully understand the impact our lives can have on those around us. The life and ministry of Johnny Jackson — a Southern Baptist minister in Arkansas — was a major influence on mine. I had the privilege of attending a memorial service for Brother Johnny last week at First Baptist Church in Maumelle. The service was a celebration of a life spent serving others. Brother Johnny was pastor of many churches in Arkansas and spent his last fe...

Letter to the editor (Nov. 8, 2013)Slow down Hey, how about slowing down! On Nov. 2, a Sunday afternoon, several members of the River Valley Arkansas Master Naturalists were busy picking up litter along our newly-adopted road, Sheppard Drive. We ended up collecting around 10 bags of trash, one very large truck tire and two smaller tires. I’m not writing this to toot our own horn, no. The following is why I wrote this letter: The Russellville Road Department kindly let us use tw...

Making a case for literacyThere is a verse in the Bible I have come to appreciate more and more as time goes by. In Proverbs 3:27 it says, “Withhold not good to them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.” With this in mind, I would like to tell you about one of the greatest needs we have in our nation today — fighting the battle of illiteracy. In our modern technological society, a person does not have a prayer if he or she cannot read. Yet w...

Timing not right for RankinFor months, Beth Anne Rankin wrestled with whether or not to run, again, for Congress, even though she had lost twice before. In the end, she said no. “It’s just hard to let go,” she said in an interview Tuesday between informing supporters of her decision. She later explained, “I just didn’t think it was the right time for me to run again.” I should disclose that Beth Anne — I mean, Rankin — and I have known each other since we attended Ouach...

Letter to the editor (Nov. 7, 2013)Highway 124 memories It’s been more than a year since I came home from Tennessee to hear the shocking news: The Highway Department is taking your house. Their plan is to build a five-lane highway where State Highway 124 is. They say it was recently “patched up,” but now they are really going to build a highway with sidewalks (dangerous)! I pause here to say, I don’t believe mere words could describe the anguish I have gone through beginning wi...

State prisons reach capacity, causing ripple effect in jailsCounty jails are beginning to fill up in many parts of Arkansas, a logical consequence of the Arkansas Department of Correction reaching its capacity for housing inmates. State news organizations reported on Oct. 25 that the state prison system had reached a record of 14,343 inmates that week — 106.4 percent of capacity for men and 107.2 percent of capacity for women. At the time another 2,144 prisoners were in county jails waiting for beds to...

Letters to the editor (Nov. 6, 2013)Opposed to real estate tax increase by Pope County Quorum Court I know the Quorum Court must feel like three rabbits trying to eat a tractor-trailer load of carrots. There are way too many expenses and way too few dollars. But the real property owners are paying their fair share already. Three of the current Justices of the Peace I spoke with about the upcoming vote to raise your real estate taxes by 1 mil for county general funds seemed to be...

When public service was honorableIn November 1960, I cast my first presidential vote for John F Kennedy. But because I was in the middle of 13 weeks of Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., that fall, I had to vote by absentee ballot. Parris Island recruits were prohibited from reading newspapers, listening to radio or watching TV. So I did not find out that Kennedy had defeated Richard Nixon until the Thursday after the election when my Marine drill instructor, a wh...

Mr. President, keep your lie, period“No matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people. If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you will be able to you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” — President Barack Obama The now infamous words that President Obama uttered, spoke and proclaimed during interviews, speeches and campa...

Mustard greensIt’s mustard green season, and these cool weather vegetables are popping up in gardens all around the region. Cultivated throughout the South, these leafy greens are related to both collard greens and kale, and were first grown in the Himalayan region of India. Today they are cultivated all across Asia, South America, and throughout the American South, and are popular in Japanese, Chinese and Indian cooking. Mustard greens are a staple in sout...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Committee’s task: cut deficit, dramaTwenty-nine members of the Senate and House met for the first time Wednesday to try to do what Congress has been unable to do for a while — govern responsibly and undramatically on a deadline but without creating a crisis. Expectations are modest for this conference committee, whose members hope to craft a proposal by Dec. 13 that gets us through a year or two without another shutdown or fiscal cliff. There also are intentions of replacing the...